Torin's stories
by CauseChicasLoveStarmen
Summary: Torin is a second-year student at the Here College, as well as the most favourite pupil of his tutor, professor Baldimore, due to his regular high grades. In this story, he tells us about his days in and around college with his classmates and friends. Rated T for mild physical abuse and mild explicit language. (This story also contains minor references to other popular culture.)
1. intro chapter

_A/N: This story has been written from the point of view of a college student, but I, myself, am a freeter, which means that I never went to college, university or anything after graduating from high school, so my apologies for any possible mistakes and misinterpretations in the story! Also, the name Torin has been made up by me, and I consider it a unisex name, so feel free to use it as a name for your own OC, too. :)_

* * *

It's 1997, the year in which I'm still in college. A better era than when I was still very young, if I may say so myself.

Let me tell you why being very young wasn't too pleasant for me. My mother had me when she was about 16, and nobody knew my biological father, not even her, so I was raised by her alone.

When I was nearly 4, she got married to whom used to be my stepfather, who already had a son from a previous relationship whom he sent to a boarding school in their original hometown. However, that marriage didn't last for too long, and that surely was a shame, because one month prior, I got introduced to my ex-stepbrother, with whom I immediately hit it off very well.

Afterwards, I contacted him a lot via the telephone until the first few Windows computers came and e-mail addresses were introduced not too long ago, because ever since, we're sending each other a lot of e-mails regarding how we're doing. While he's at a university already, I'm still in college, even though my next plan is definitely to go to the university as well.

* * *

I'm attending the Here College, which is located in Waynesboro, Virginia, and it's only just the start of my second and last year, and I'm still with the same classmates and tutor as last year, which is something that doesn't happen too often.

Our tutor is professor Baldimore, who seems to be a bit of a peculiar person at first, but once one gets to know him, he's really a nice guy, even though he does have to be strict to some of my classmates on a very common occasion.

So far, college is the best education facility that's ever been in my life. Elementary school was… well, meh, because nothing special really happened there, middle school was pretty bad because of many teachers that manipulated our grades to sabotage us, and high school was an absolute nightmare because during my last year of it, I had a girlfriend who really turned out to be a psychopathic killjoy who sabotaged her previous boyfriend, whom is also one of my current classmates, by luring him into her 'literature club' only to not be allowed to commune with three other members there, whom she killed off by sabotaging them first. So I was the one to break up at first and cuss so much at her that it even left her paranoid, which normally isn't something that I would usually do. But it did help with preventing her from stalking us during the graduation exams, though, as my classmate – Michael Canning, even though everyone calls him MC – had followed me in my cusses and scared her away from his life as well. And that's pretty much how I graduated high school and was somehow still permitted into college.

The prominent courses I'm following in college are maths, algebra, mechanics, astrology, planetology, physics and science, since I'm studying to become a mechanic and already am a mediocre inventor of certain small devices that one only uses once every blue moon or something. Furthermore, I also have English and sports class, but those are stories to simply leave aside, because I already learn mechanical terms during mechanics class and physics.

My class doesn't just consist of me and MC, of course – it also has a disarray of about 28 other students with such different personalities, looks and traits, the most notable ones being this girl named Lucy Dammer, whose nickname is Playtime, who is a bit childish, always eager to jump rope with herself or someone else and has moderately poor eyesight, and one of the 'cool guys' named Ethan Anderson, whose nickname is It's a Bully, since he's also literally a bully who loves to take everyone's candy and such.

And of course, there's me, Torin English, who's the black sheep of the class who always gets the best grades (and thus, professor Baldimore's most favourite pupil as well) and is genuinely innocent, because, like I said, I'm not really the type to just cuss and make fun of others for no reason in particular. But behind the backs of almost everyone in college, I definitely am someone else, and here's why…


	2. Just another college Monday

It was another day of college. Nearly every classmate of mine complained about how they thought the courses got more difficult every semester. Me, I only just thought it was fun, like a challenge, and tried my absolute best to get at least a B+ at every test. So far, it has happened quite often, and professor Baldimore surely is proud of me and my results, especially if it comes to maths, which is the only course that he teaches to all of the students including me and my classmates.

Once I got my next grade during physics class, which was an A, I suddenly got tormented by It's a Bully, who would usually never do such a thing to me.

"I've heard that you and MC had been dating someone in high school who loved to manipulate everyone" he said, "why did you guys abandon her?"

"What?" I said in disbelief. "We didn't abandon her, she did so to us, even though she's really sweet and everything, so why don't you date her someday?" Those were all lies, but throughout the years, I've become an expert in telling those with a straight face so everyone who heard them would believe me straight away.

"I see. May I have her name?"

I got a note from my pen case and wrote my ex's name and phone number on it. (It really is amazing how I could still remember that, even though I didn't even bother to call her anymore nowadays.)

"Call her anytime. Even though she's in a different college than ours, she's often open for a good relationship… at least, if she's not taken at the moment." I smiled smugly and handed the note to It's a Bully, who smiled in approval and sat back at his desk.

"Torin, what were you doing just now?" MC said in disbelief.

"Oh, just trying to get rid of It's a Bully…" I whispered back, "he surely deserves to date that psychopathic killjoy excuse of an ex-girlfriend of ours, am I right?"

"Ah, very well thought. I hope it works."

"Torin, MC, you know that whispering in the presence of others is rude, right?" Penelope scoffed.

Penelope was our metalhead classmate who had a very dark and grim personality and didn't seem too nice to anyone. She had tons of piercings, always wore torn and damaged clothing, and only had hair on one half of her head, as she'd always shave the other half away to look 'cooler'. The hair that she still had would always be dyed black and either hot pink or teal, as well as tied in several little pigtails quite often, causing her to be referred to as 'Penny Pigtails' quite often, of which she absolutely disapproved.

"Says the one who is rude herself" John said. "Get a hold of yourself, Penny Pigtails."

Penelope wanted to snap at John as professor Watson, the physics teacher, interrupted us that the class was dismissed, even though the bell wouldn't ring about 5 minutes later.

MC and I got up and left the classroom, and John joined us, as he didn't want Penelope to lecture him about her demeanour.

"That was seriously so rude of her" John said, "she never pointed that out until today."

"We'll be temporarily rid of her during mechanics class soon" I said, "after all, I don't think her demeanour will let her have any more friends than It's a Bully and some of those other first-year goth kids."

Our threesome went to the cafeteria for our lunch, and since we were the first, Alice, the cafeteria chef, offered us some food in advance before the other students would show up.

John, MC I got a tray from the start of the queue point, and I was offered to go first.

"Today's lunch consists of mashed potato, a sausage, peas and carrots" Alice said as she put the aforementioned foods onto my tray and I paid her the lunch money. "Please enjoy."

"Oh, but I always do" I chuckled. "Out of every cafeteria chef I've ever known in my life, you're the best."

"Thank you so much."

I took a seat at one of the tables and patiently waited until MC and John got their food as well, because I found it rude to eat before other people would eat as well.

Suddenly, as the three of us wanted to start eating, Lacie, Alice's daughter, came to sit with us.

Lacie Jones is a very good friend of mine who is in her late teens, a wanderer and an excellent chef, even though she barely cooks our lunches, unlike her mother. She, unlike me, has lived a pretty good life so far, with two married parents, a little brother with whom she has a very close bond and barely argues, and going to a prep-school four days a week where she never seems to meet and know any mean and manipulative teachers and students. (And her name is also literally an anagram of her mother's, which I do find funny somewhere.)

"Hello, Torin, John and MC" Lacie said, "how are you all doing?"

"Pretty good" I said, "and I have some good food here again, too." I took a spoonful of mashed potato mixed with the peas and carrots and ate it. "But two of our classmates are being weird and such again."

"Oh, It's a Bully and Penny Pigtails should really date each other, they're the perfect match."

"But Torin just handed It's a Bully the phone number of our ex" MC laughed, "so it's most likely that they'll eventually become a threesome that way. I don't know how he still remembered that phone number, I surely am pretty surprised about that."

That statement made me, John and Lacie laugh just as hard, and at the same time, the bell rang and the cafeteria slowly became more crowded.

"How's your ex-stepbrother doing?" Lacie asked as she cut her sausage in four pieces.

"Pretty good" I said. "Aside of still amusing his father with stories about me and my escapades often, he's very busy doing stuff at the university, such as in-between exams and whatnot. But other than that, he enjoys it to the fullest, and that's what makes it fun." I sighed and thought a little. "I surely do hope that I'll make it to the university as well…"

"Oh, of course you will" John said, "and so will MC and I. And you, Lacie, will become the world's best chef!"

"I do hope to cook some lunch for you guys someday indeed. Even my father and little brother keep on asking my mother if I could assist her with more than just putting the food behind tempered glass and stuff."

We talked and ate some more until the bell rang again after about twenty minutes of lunch break and recess, and I promised Lacie to see her again after school whenever we both had the time.

John, MC and I headed to the classroom where we usually had English class and prepared ourselves for the first ever English test of this year.

* * *

College ended around 4:15 p.m., and just as I exited the building, Lacie noticed me, and we both headed to the schoolyard, where we usually sat after a long day of school.

"Hi there" we said to each other as we took a seat on the nearest bench.

"You know, Torin" Lacie said, "we do talk face-to-face a lot, but don't you think we should contact each other more often, rather than just once to twice a week or something?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I recently got an e-mail address as well, even though we have our computer for many months now, so I'm asking if I could have yours so you can have mine?"

"Oh, but of course, where are my manners…!" I got another note from my pen case and wrote down my e-mail address, and handed yet another note and my pen to Lacie afterwards, so she could write down hers as well.

"Thank you, I'll try to keep in touch whenever I get to use a computer at prep-school as well!" Lacie chuckled and blushed a little. "Oh, don't think I'm all innocent and such…"

"Neither are you allowed to think that of me too, Jones, after everything I told you throughout the course of knowing you."

"I don't think everyone is genuinely innocent the whole time. Not even your ex-stepbrother, I suppose!"

"You've got a good point there. Indeed, I even think we could use that very well in case something evil would happen to the world, to lash out at the source of evil so the world will be safe again!" I laughed loudly. "This may sound like some myth that'd never happen, but just in case!"

"Of course I believe you, Torin. If I would have that ex of yours as my girlfriend and find out about her true personality and such, I would cuss and yell at her as well, to the point where she'd be absolutely scared of me." Lacie patted my shoulder. "Tell me, are you interested in having a love interest at the moment?"

"Not really, because of the tons of work that keep me busy, and if I'd date someone right now, it'd probably be all messed up and my grades would all be a B to an F-. What about you?"

"Neither am I, seeing as I'm at a girls-only school and not a lesbian, and, no offense to you, a lot of boys I've known in my life are so… difficult to understand."

"Oh, I don't feel offended at all. I'll have you know that I've had a lot of difficult male classmates as well, and that they never even had the courage to confess that to everyone else. Even right now, I still have some." I cleared my throat. "Do you have a good bond with your tutor, like I do?"

"Actually, yes. She's one of the few ones that I can have really deep conversations with, aside of you, my parents and my little brother, of course. She understands me and gives me advice that really helps me in life as well. Why, do you occasionally talk about such stuff with professor Baldimore as well?"

I nodded. "Indeed, tomorrow we'll have another talk with each other, and I kind of wonder what advice he'll give me then. Not that anything bothers me at the moment or anything."

Lacie nodded and hummed in agreement as she checked her pocket watch.

"Oh, looks like it's time for me to go home. You know me – I always want to be on time to help my mother out in the kitchen." We both got up from the bench. "I'll make sure to send you an e-mail really soon, and otherwise, I'll see you next Friday or Saturday!"

"Alright, bye!"

We waved at each other as we walked to our respective neighbourhoods until we were out of each other's sight. Boy, if only we'd be each other's neighbours as well so we could really see each other more often…!


	3. Relief in between the chaos

It was planetology class, and once again, the exercises that I made in the workbook were so easy, that I was done within what seemed no time.

When I was done and shut the textbook, I noticed that Meenah, one of my many classmates, was drawing something new in her sketchbook. Something that she'd usually never draw.

"Meenah, are you also finished with the requested exercises?" I asked.

Meenah simply nodded and showed me the progress of her art.

"It has to represent Derse and Prospit" she said, "and how the folks on those planets are. See? I drew some sort of an aura around each planet, with Derse's being darker because the folks there seem to have a darker personality as well."

"Derse would just be perfect for Penny Pigtails to live on, in that case" Grant jokingly stated, having overheard us, making everyone else except for Penelope laugh, and leaving me grinning softly.

"Alright, settle down" Mr. Mooney, the planetology teacher, said. "That was not very polite of you, young man Sanchez, to make such a statement about young lady Jaspers. Do such a thing once more and you'll have to write lines, even though this is college."

"You'd better shut the hell up indeed, Grant" Penelope scoffed, "in case you want me to spare a pummelling." She arrogantly turned her head aside, making her pigtails slightly slap against the side of her head.

In the meantime, Meenah had added another colour to her drawings and showed it to me.

"You see the aura around Derse? It's black and crimson, which are the colours that everyone associate with hatred and anger. And the aura around Prospit is yellow and a lighter shade of red, which are colours that everyone associate with happiness and love."

"Looks pretty nice" I said, "especially with those auras really being emotional representations."

"Thank you. If it came to the planet Earth, I think I'd have to add lots of auras because every single country feels different about how it goes there overall." Meenah chuckled and continued colouring.

At a certain time, someone knocked on the door, who revealed himself as professor Baldimore and came to take me out of the classroom for the talk that we'd have today.

"I'll have to leave for an important talk, Mr. Mooney" I said. "You know how I already finished all of the requested exercises?"

"I do, young man English" Mr. Mooney replied. "I'll see you again the day after tomorrow."

"Goodbye, sir." I went to professor Baldimore and followed him to one of the empty meeting spaces that he specially reserved for our talk.

Once we were in the room, the door was closed, and professor Baldimore offered me to have a seat.

"Would you like something to drink, professor?" I asked as I headed for the coffee machine.

"A cup of plain coffee will surely do, Torin" professor Baldimore replied, "thank you very much for the offer."

I prepared the cup of coffee, as well as a cup of water for myself, and once the coffee was given, I had a seat.

"So how are you doing lately, Torin?"

"Pretty good, professor. Still contacting my ex-stepbrother as often as I can, and still communing with Lacie whenever we both have the time."

"I see. Now, the following question may sound a little peculiar, but have there been times that you ever missed your ex-stepfather?"

Oof, that was a tricky question. After a little while of thinking, I indeed came to such a realisation.

"I kind of do, now that you mention it, professor. Perhaps I should ask my ex-stepbrother to add photos in his e-mails when I add photos in mine, too?" I took a small sip of my water. "You may already know that when my mother was still married to Andrew, I had a pretty good bond with him, as if he was my biological father, or something."

Professor Baldimore nodded in understanding.

"I do find it pretty sad that you only had such a thing in your life for about a year. As a long-time husband and a father of a son of our own, it makes me feel even more sorry for you."

"You don't have to, professor. My mother doesn't really feel that way either, but that's most likely since she, herself, doesn't want to see him anymore." I had to wipe a few tears away and adjust my glasses to not show any unnecessary emotion. Inside the college walls, I thought that emotion was definitely more of a thing for elementary schoolers.

"Torin, let me be honest here. If you still want to keep on contacting your ex-stepbrother, with whom you have a very close bond, please do. Never should you abandon anyone who you really trust, right?"

I shook my head and drank some more of my water. Professor Baldimore was right, but it wasn't like I never felt like contacting my ex-stepbrother anymore or anything.

"And how are the classes outside of maths going?"

"Still pretty good, professor. I still seem to be the only student who often gets grades that are at least a B+. Furthermore, Grant is still not as careful with making statements and comments about others, because he angered Penelope with it just now."

"Well, that doesn't sound too good, regarding some of your classmates. I'll make sure to show them their way to the principal if they keep on going like that."

Well, I thought, we'll see who'll get shown to principal McGonigal first. Definitely the rude one who'll threaten to pummel others…

Some other important details on me and my courses and such were discussed, until the next bell rang, which meant the start of a new class.

"You won't be without me just yet, Torin…!" Professor Baldimore jokingly stated with a chuckle, meaning that the next course would be maths.

I simply smiled in response and we headed for our main classroom together, where the rest of my classmates also arrived soon after.

I took a seat at my desk and grabbed the utilities that I needed.

"Well" I heard Meenah say, "this class will be a gruelling one onc—hey, where in the name of someone has my backpack gone?!"

"It's mine now" It's a Bully said, holding the backpack onto the palm of his hand as if it weighed nothing more than a feather, "you should've kept your eyes on it better, meanie."

"Excuse me?!"

Professor Baldimore noticed this as soon as Meenah exclaimed, and strictly looked It's a Bully in the eyes, as he smacked his usual ruler on the palm of his own hand.

"Hand the backpack back to Meenah or consequences will follow, young man" he warned him, and he held his ruler up as if he was about to smack It's a Bully in his face with it.

In response, he fearfully handed the backpack back to Meenah, who came to sit at the desk on my left, while It's a Bully himself got sent towards a desk all the way in the back, next to Penelope and Anthony.

"I'm so glad that this second year is also my last year…" Meenah said, her voice shaking for a bit. "I so cannot wait to go to art school after all of those exams and such…" She burst into soft sobbing afterwards.

John noticed this, and rubbed Meenah's back in an attempt to console her.

"I'll try to protect you and your belongings, dear" he said. "He should get his own stuff so he won't just take anything from us anymore."

Professor Baldimore, in the meantime, wrote down some math problems on the blackboard, which we had to overwrite in our workbooks so we could solve them.

Fortunately for all of us, we were allowed to use our calculators in case we would get stuck at one of the math problems. In my case, it was barely used, because I was one of the few ones who was pretty good at maths, and thus, I easily solved the problems.

As usual, John and MC looked at me in disbelief, even though they were also pretty good at maths, but somehow needed more time to solve such problems.

Time went by, and the end of maths class would be near. Only a few people were still busy solving the math problems that were written down on the blackboard.

"Damn…" I heard Anthony say from the back. "That's one hell of a problem I have to solve here."

"You're just too slow" Penelope chuckled, "as well as sitting too far away to read it properly. You probably need huge magnifying glasses to really understand it all."

"Rude…"

Again, professor Baldimore heard this happen, and went towards the back, where it turned out that Penelope didn't even bother to write anything from the blackboard into her workbook.

"I can hear math that bad" professor Baldimore warned her, with his same way of smacking his ruler. "Write down what's written on the blackboard or go and see the principal." He turned to Anthony. "It's no problem, just let me write it down for you. Perhaps you'd like to sit on a desk that's a little closer to the blackboard next time?"

"Perhaps I do" Anthony replied, "and if it still doesn't help, I'll probably have my eyes tested, or something."

And as soon as the math problems were written out more clearly for Anthony, he also finished those within no time.

"Dude" Penelope said, "that's literally cheating. You'll never get a good grade for the next test that way."

Professor Baldimore got tired of Penelope's antics now, sternly stepped towards her and hit her on the cheek with his ruler, making her yelp loudly out of the pain.

"Go and see the principal" he said slightly louder than usually, "right this instant!"

At the same time, principal McGonigal knocked on the door and entered the classroom.

"Well, well, well" he said, "one of your students is being naughty to you, Baldi?" ('Baldi' was professor Baldimore's common nickname in between him, principal McGonigal and some of their other colleagues.) "Young lady Jaspers. No answering back your tutor during math class. The next course will be detention for you."

Penelope got up and followed the principal to his office reluctantly.

"Is she really adultlike enough to be in this class?" Grant asked.

"Dude, I was literally wondering the same" Kris said.

"Even I am less childish than her" Playtime stated, "if I may say so myself."

"I will eventually consider expelling her if she keeps on going like this, of course" Professor Baldimore said, "because to be honest, I cannot handle that behaviour of hers either." He headed to Anthony to check if he solved the math problems yet. "Very well done, Anthony! You're amazing!"

Anthony simply chuckled and blushed in response, actually being proud of how quickly he solved the math problems.

* * *

Once college ended again, I went home and immediately took a seat at my computer to send my first e-mail to Lacie.

I found it pretty strange to commune with her that way, rather than just talking to her in person. But this method of communication would be absolutely perfect otherwise, for example, if she'd be on holiday to a faraway state or country or something.

But I decided to give it a shot anyway, even though it was hard.

=ß=

_Dear Lacie,_

_This is my first ever e-mail to you, isn't it?_

_For me, it feels really strange to send one to you, rather than talking to you in person. How about you?_

_Today, I had my talk with professor Baldimore, and it went pretty well, if I may say so myself. Thanks to a 'strange' question of his, I even came to the realisation that I kind of miss my ex-stepfather. Perhaps that I still love him as a father that I never had, too? You're the first one to hear about this, but I should definitely tell my ex-stepbrother about it, too._

_I also talked about how I want to send photos of them via the e-mail, so you're also the first one to whom I'm sending photos here! Nothing special, just a shot that features the two of them, even though I'm not in it as we haven't seen each other in person for many years now. If you'd like, you can also send a picture of yourself via the e-mail so I can send it to them, too, because I may tell my ex-stepbrother about you a lot, but he still doesn't know what you look like, and he's been curious about your looks for many years now! (No, he's not in love with you or anything, since he's gay and already has a boyfriend as well.)_

_I hope you liked this first e-mail of mine, and I also hope you'll send one back really soon!_

_Love, Torin_

=ß=

I added a more recent photo of my ex-stepbrother and his father to the e-mail and then hit the send button.

Up next, I shut the computer down and made some leftover homework that was given to me during the last few courses of college today, which was also done within what seemed no time.

Once I wrote down the last word, my mother called me for dinner, and I immediately rushed to the kitchen/dining area to have some, because that long and eventful day of college sure left me hungry for a good serving of food.


	4. A boost of confidence

Remember the e-mail I sent to Lacie recently? She was very pleased with it, and didn't even mind me sharing a picture of her with my ex-stepbrother. Indeed, she wrote the following to me.

=ß=

_Dear Torin,_

_Thank you very much for your e-mail! It indeed feels a little different to talk to you like this, like you said! Let's make sure to speak in person more often whenever we both have the time. :)_

_I also want to thank you for the picture you sent of your ex-stepfather and his son, now I finally know whom to foresee whenever you mention them! And of course you can send a picture of me to them as well, I bet they indeed are curious about what I look like somewhere. (imagine me chuckling now)_

_Furthermore, I have some news: you know how it's only just October, right? Well, despite that, they're mentioning prom at my school already lately, since I'm in 11th grade and that's one of the only two categories that's invited to prom. (I think you already knew from your own experience at high school, sorry…!) And to be honest, I was kind of wondering if you'd like to go to prom with me? Only if you're really interested, because I do understand if you don't want to go due to your own high school experience._

_And that's pretty much everything that's been on my mind lately. I do hope to hear from you again soon! ;-x_

_Love, Lacie_

=ß=

Especially the prom part was an interesting one. Me, I've been to one already, but I deeply regretted it due to my psychopathic killjoy ex-girlfriend back then. But I may retry it if it comes to Lacie. Not that we're in love or anything, just as very close friends, and who says that very close friends aren't allowed to dance and have some soda pop and cupcakes with each other?

I decided to consider it and furthermore just focus on college, even though today, it was absolute chaos there.

During maths class, Penelope and It's a Bully suddenly had an argument about nothing in particular, which didn't leave much of the lesson left for us the other students.

"Oof" MC had responded to this, "and only just the other day, we said that they'd be the perfect couple…"

This left me and John almost grinning, but not for long, as Professor Baldimore smacked his ruler, which didn't just shock Penelope and It's a Bully, but also the rest of the class.

"Young man Anderson and young lady Jaspers!" professor Baldimore exclaimed loudly, "that's enough!"

At the same time, principal McGonigal knocked on the door and entered the classroom. (Which really started to become a usual thing, kind of like the butterfly effect or whatever they call it…)

"No arguing in class" he said in his usual, stoic voice, as he looked Penelope and It's a Bully in the eyes. "Detention for you two. Your parents will definitely hear about this one today."

"Aw, man!" Penelope exclaimed, as it looked like she literally wanted to rip her spiked collar off of her neck. She and It's a Bully did follow suit to the principal's office, though.

"Serves you two well after wrecking my umpteenth rope…" Playtime chuckled evilly.

"Alright, alright" professor Baldimore said, as he smacked his ruler against his desk. "Now to continue with the lesson itself." He grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote down math problems on the blackboard. "Anthony, can you read those well now?"

"Yes, professor" Anthony replied, as he overwrote the math problems in his workbook.

After all of the math problems were overwritten in everyone's workbooks, we all focused on solving them. Absolute silence in the classroom. It never happened during regular classes until today, unless it was a mandatory in-between exam.

For me, maths were pretty easy, as usual, and for Anthony, they were a lot easier to solve now that he sat a bit closer to the blackboard.

Once I was done solving all of the problems, professor Baldimore allowed me to use the classroom computer, which was a good thing since I happened to have a floppy disk in my bag, on which a few photos stood, of which I wanted to send one to my ex-stepbrother.

By chance, I appeared to have appeared an e-mail from him once I logged in to the e-mail network.

=ß=

_Dear Torin,_

_How are you doing in college now that it's your second and last year? I forgot to ask the whole time, I'm really sorry! :$_

_Me, I'm also in my second year of the university, and I'm doing pretty well, despite all of the homework and exams I'm getting. Perhaps that's a legit reason for me to be so forgetful regarding questions?_

_My father is doing okay (it could be better, to be honest), and what about your mother? (Does she still permit you to send me e-mails? :P) And are you still speaking to Lacie as well? To be honest, I'd love to meet her someday and tell her all sorts of stories… if she's a good listener for people like me, too, of course. (Just kidding, from your stories, I definitely know she is.)_

_Finally, I'd like to ask you if you still have the same classmates and tutor? Because last time we spoke to each other, you merely stated that rumour had it, and for you, I do hope it came true, too. (And of course, I hope those 'awful' classmates aren't targeting you anymore in their silly antics!)_

_I hope to hear from you soon, and until then, you'll get lots of love from my father and boyfriend, too! :)_

_Best wishes, Jeff_

=ß=

I smiled widely upon reading the e-mail, and immediately decided to answer it, since the two of us indeed hadn't written to each other for a long time now!

=ß=

_Dear Jeff,_

_Long time no see indeed! I'm doing great, and I indeed still have the same classmates and tutor! Professor Baldimore is still such a kind and understanding gentleman to me whenever we have an important talk about personal and school-related business._

_Not too long ago, I had another talk with him, and I said that I still really miss you and your father, and let me be honest here… I don't just miss you guys, I also still love you guys as if you're family members that I never even had! If only my mother wouldn't've considered divorcing him, then I'd still be able to see you guys! And especially you if you'd be home from boarding school back then…_

_Speaking of, I'm glad that you're doing well at the university!_

_Lacie is also doing well, and recently, she allowed me to send a picture of her to you, so you can see it for yourself, and, if you'd like, show it to your father as well, because Lacie thought that you guys would be dying to finally know what she really looks like, so here you go._

_Lacie is also in 11th grade of prep-school right now, and she also recently asked me to go to prom with her, of which I'm not too sure since high school left me kind of traumatised after my ex, but I told her that I'll consider it._

_Hope to hear from you soon, and good luck on your upcoming exams and such!_

_Best wishes, Torin_

=ß=

I added a photo of Lacie to the e-mail and sent it, then logged out of the e-mail network, opened the text editor and started doing some extra maths practises.

"Hey Torin" John asked, "what are you all smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing special" I replied. "I may tell you about it later on."

"Are you in love…?"

"No!"

"John, settle down" Meenah said, "sometimes, you're a little too pushy for him."

I nodded in agreement and continued the math practises until the bell rang. I safely removed the floppy, greeted professor Baldimore and headed to mechanics class with most of my classmates.

* * *

Later today, recess only just started, and John was still dying for the reason why I was smiling at the computer during maths class.

"It's because my ex-stepbrother sent an e-mail and he's doing well" I replied, as I grabbed a tray and joined the queue.

"Wait, he hasn't sent you anything at all for a long time?!" John replied in surprise.

I shook my head and kept on smiling.

"I'm glad that he's also doing well" MC said. "Is he still busy with university stuff?"

I nodded.

"Mandatory in-between exams and stuff. Once we're at the university, we'll get those as well, my friend, so keep that in mind."

At the same time, it was my turn to get some lunch on my tray.

"Today's lunch consists of potato croquettes with a salad and some sauce on the side" Alice said, as she served the food on my tray.

"It looks good, and I'm convinced that it'll taste good as well. Thank you very much, Alice." I paid her the lunch money.

"No problem, and please enjoy!"

I searched a table to sit at and eventually sat down at one where Meenah already sat. We greeted each other once I joined her.

"Alice makes the best lunches, doesn't she?" I said.

"She indeed does" Meenah said. "That salad is just lovely! Where I normally refused to eat it in high school, I suddenly like it better in college."

"Yeah, but high school food is always the same sloppy chipotle that nobody likes since it lacks any fresh ingredients."

"You have a very good point there." Meenah took another bite of one of her two potato croquettes. "Mmm, this one is also amazing!"

A little later, John and MC joined us as well.

"You look to be a bit nervous as well, Torin" MC said, "care to share why?"

I almost choked on my water as soon as the question was asked.

"Oh, well, uh, sure" I said once I was done coughing. "Well, it's like this… it's October, right? But once you just blink your eyes, it's February already, and during that month, Lacie's school is organising a prom, and she asked me to go, but I'm not sure if I want to or not… after what happened at high school from my eyes, with that nasty ex of mine…"

"Oh dear, that indeed is a tricky one. I'm only glad you're taking the time to think about it, pal, because otherwise, you're dragging yourself into a situation that doesn't seem too pleasant at all."

"Perhaps you should go" John said, "because this time, the school in which it's hosted is different, and the whole situation will be different as well, especially since your and MC's ex is now in a school somewhere abroad!"

I silently nodded and just stared out of the window, where the rain was pouring hard and the skies were grey as they could be. It was a good thing that I had my umbrella in a locker somewhere, because otherwise, I wouldn't be too happy upon arriving home in such a soggy state.

Meenah, John and MC gave me the time to think for a while. While I thought, I ate as well. Perhaps that the prom at Lacie's school would serve such delicious food as well? Imagine if Alice would be there as the cook, that'd be amazing! And of course I didn't have to worry about my ex anymore. I suddenly felt very eager to go, because that way, I'd also meet Lacie's friends and classmates, and their friends as well.

"I'll go to prom in February" I said. "I know I want to! I know Lacie wants me to go, too!" I felt so glad to suddenly feel such a huge boost of confidence.

"That's the spirit!" Meenah said in a pleased tone, as she, John and MC applauded for me.

We talked and ate some more until the next bell rang, and we headed to the science classroom.

"Good afternoon, everyone" professor Curie greeted us as soon as we entered the classroom, "how is everyone doing?"

"Pretty good, ma'am" I replied, as I took a seat at my desk and got my correct books ready.

"Not too shabby" Meenah said, before she turned to me. "Good one, I'll revise some more, too."

Once (nearly) everyone was in the classroom, revising for the next test, professor Curie noticed something.

"Say, where are Penelope and Ethan?" she asked.

"Oh, you mean It's a Bully and Penny Pigtails?" Playtime said. "Well, they seem to have detention for ages now. Serves them well."

"Now, now, young lady Dammer, don't make such statements. But if they have detention for such a long time, they must've done something that trespasses the school rules for quite some time now, even though this semester has only just started briefly."

Just as professor Curie wanted to give us the papers for our test, principal McGonigal knocked on the door and entered the classroom.

"Class 2A" he started, "I've come here to make an official announcement regarding your classmates Ethan Anderson and Penelope Jaspers. They've been expelled for two weeks, and will receive your current work as homework to do on their own. Until their period of being expelled is over, they're not allowed to enter this college building."

"I understand, principal McGonigal" I said as I nodded in understanding, "thank you kindly for sharing. I was somewhat concerned already, to tell you the truth."

"Now, there's no need to be concerned anymore for the time being, young man English. I hope that your two classmates will soon know better and not perform such antics anymore." Silence fell. "Now, have I been clear to everyone else, too?"

"Yes, principal McGonigal" all of my classmates replied.

"Very well then. I wish you all good luck on the test, as well as a nice day." Principal McGonigal left the classroom and closed the door behind him.

Professor Curie finally handed us the tests, on which our names were already written, which wasn't approved by some, however, as their names seemed to be misspelled upon receiving the test paper.

"Oh, for the love of the King of all Cosmos…" Meenah groaned. "Professor Curie, you know that my first name is spelled like M-E-E-N-A-H, and not M-I-N-A, right?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, young lady Takahashi" professor Curie replied, "you may already know how my dyslexia makes my spelling all scrambled, right? But I'll try to work on it. Thank you for being so alert to it."

Up next, the test officially started. Such graceful silence fell once again, and everyone finally seemed to be able to focus. Even I seemed to finish the test a little faster than before, despite the fact that the unit that I previously worked on was a little more difficult than usual.

Soon enough, everyone else seemed to have finished the test as well, whether they'd be a little worse at science or not. And since this was a double period of science class, professor Curie promised us to do something special as well in case everyone had finished their test.

Everyone seemed to be eager to get to know what that 'something special' was.

"Alright, everyone" professor Curie said, once she had received all of the test from the students, "get your lab coats on and grab your safety glasses and gloves, because we'll be performing experiments once again!"

The class started talking enthusiastically, and we all did as professor Curie told us to do, because safety goes first, right?

During the performing of the experiments, we also got the opportunity to talk to each other about all sorts of topics.

"It's way more quiet here without It's a Bully and Penny Pigtails around, isn't it now?" Anthony said, as he carefully got some hydrochloric acid into his pipette. "Boy, I bet they would've been so careless with the hydrochloric acid once again. Remember how It's a Bully burnt some of his nose hairs upon just taking it from Jamey, and then practically seemed to snort it?"

This made us all laugh. We still remember that moment from our first year as if it was yesterday.

"Oh, dear me" Jamey said, "he just swipes everything from us without even asking for our approval, and that's especially a bad thing during classes like this!" He carefully dropped some hydrochloric acid in a tube with a little potassium and stepped backwards to see how the two would react.

Nothing seemed to happen, however, until some small bubbles started coming from the potassium and slowly but surely, a foam of some sort started forming.

"Oh, thank goodness that nothing exploded and I stepped back just to be sure."

"Potassium will react a little different to plain water, however" I said, as I got some water into my pipette. "Step back, everyone, this is literally going to be really explosive!" I dropped some water into my tube of potassium and it indeed turned into a miniature version of an explosive festival.

Everyone went like "Whoa!" and some of the classmates even held on to each other when the explosive festival occurred.

After the whole plethora of explosions, John and Lydia wrote everything down in an extra page of their workbooks. I decided to do the exact same thing with a few extras that I forgot to write down last year, but somehow still remembered.

"I kind of wonder how hydrochloric acid will react to some copper instead?" MC said, as he got said acid into his pipette and dropped it into a second tube which contained a little copper, and subsequently held the tube underneath a small fire coming from a Bunsen burner.

"Be careful now, young man Canning" professor Curie said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Soon, the combination of elements turned green and slightly boiled.

"Can I see it?" Playtime asked. "I did see something happen, but not any difference or anything."

MC carefully showed the tube to Playtime, who seemed amazed about the fact that the tube's contents actually changed colour, and subsequently wrote the reaction down in his workbook.

"Professor Curie?" I asked. "Should we experiment with food colouring and salt crystals someday?"

"I don't think it'll become edible anymore that way, Torin" Anthony laughed, "in case you want to sprinkle it on something afterwards!"

"No, no, not in the sense of eating it, but in the sense of seeing it grow enormous out of the petri dishes!"

"Oh, of course I knew, I was only just joshing you!' Anthony patted my shoulder and suggested that we would do an experiment together.


	5. Into the cold

Quite some time has gone by in the meantime, including me visiting Andrew, my ex-stepfather, and his son who were at a hotel in my home state for a week since they attended a science fair back then and won the second prize for Jeff's most recent invention.

Jeff and I are still very good friends, even if it has been nearly dozens of years since last seeing each other. We told each other a lot of life stories, and even introduced him to Lacie, with whom he hit it off quite well, too, and ever since, they started e-mailing each other as well.

Right now, it's December, which means that Christmas is around the corner, and the dawn of a new year is also near.

I was in college at the moment, making another prototype robot during mechanics class. I wanted the robot to serve for peeling fruits and vegetables as carefully as possible, and had to bring about six potatoes a week to college, only as test objects for the robot. That was, until my classmate Lydia, who has cooking class rather than mechanics, recently asked me if she could use the potatoes for herself and a few other classmates who have cooking class.

"They could also come to good use during biology or physics class" she said, "for example, when one views a very thin slice of potato via the microscope, or make some sort of a battery out of it."

"I should really ask professor Watson about using potatoes and lemons as batteries for one of the next practical physics classes" I said, "because as far as I know, we barely did such things here in college."

"If there are some of those left after cooking class, I'll make sure to bring some to the physics classroom and tell professor Watson why, alright?"

I nodded, and Lydia left the classroom with my peeled potatoes.

The robot that I built was approved by Mr. Rust, the mechanics teacher, after showing him how it worked.

"It works very well, young man English" he told me, "it peels the skin off of potatoes and such in such a delicate manner. Perhaps the battery should also be a potato or a lemon, rather than a 9-volt?"

"I'll consider that for my next version" I said, "it does sound like an idea that's better for the environment, sir."

The end of the course neared, and we the students were allowed to put everything away early and have some time to prepare for the next class.

"Are you still used to Penny Pigtails being in a different class now, Torin?" Meenah asked.

"I am" I replied, "but not to the fact that she's suddenly rivals with It's a Bully ever since the two came back here. Every food or beverage she brings is immediately taken by him and barely shared, because that's what she really wants…"

"Yeah, sharing is caring, but It's a Bully has different thoughts on that for some unknown reason…"

Meanwhile, Meenah was sketching out her next mechanics idea, which did regard a lemon battery, one of her usual traits during the making of something during mechanics class.

Some time later, the class was dismissed, and up next was a double period of sports class. Inside of the building, fortunately, as outside, it was so freezing cold, that even the tiniest of spiders sometimes needed to shelter in the locker rooms. Me, I didn't mind those spiders while changing into my sports garb.

The first thing with which we started during sports class was jogging, so we could warm up and practise for the next shuttle run test that'd take place after winter break.

Next up, we did all sorts of jumps, squats, push-ups, sit-ups and whatnot. I didn't quite like those, but I still did them, because otherwise, I'd have a low grade on my next report card. Of course I am willing to do things against my will whenever I need to, especially if it comes to college and other education facilities.

However, when we were about to reach the end of the entire muscular workouts part, Gayle suddenly hurt her lower back and was immediately sent to the first aid department. But despite that, the rest of us still had to continue doing sports class until it'd be dismissed, even if some of us felt extremely restless.

After sports class, we were always required to take a shower, but it'd only last one minute for all of us since the shower was always nearly as cold as it was outside right now.

Once I got out of the shower, dried myself off and threw myself back into my regular garb, I also wrapped my scarf around my neck, because suddenly, it felt even colder in the locker room than it'd usually be.

"Am I the only one who is even freezing after the shower?" I asked as I grabbed my comb and corrected my hair.

"No" MC said, "I'm cold as ice as well! It's a good thing that you got that scarf there, I'll put it on as well…"

As soon as everyone was all done and dressed back into their regular garb, we left the locker room and saw that all of the girls were also shivering and even wearing their coats inside, even though that was against the rules.

"Guess we're not the only ones who are freezing to death here…" I heard Halley say, "see the boys? They're all in scarves, too."

"You could borrow one of my scarves for the time being" Jamey said, as he got a scarf out of his bag and quickly walked up to Halley to hand her one.

"No running in the halls" I suddenly heard principal McGonigal say, "and no wearing coats in the halls, either."

"Principal McGonigal" I said, "we're all cold. I'm afraid the radiators and the heaters have broken down a few minutes ago. Please make an exception for us."

"Is that so?" Principal McGonigal felt the nearest radiator with his bare hand. "That's very strange indeed, even though it's definitely set to level three. I'll call an engineer to come and check it soon."

I started rubbing my hands and occasionally cupping them to blow air in it, in an attempt to become warm again.

"Hey, Torin" Playtime said, "we should probably go to a bigger hallway, in case you want to jump some rope to stay warm."

"Huh, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all" I said, "I still feel quite energetic, so why not?"

The two of us went to the most central hallway, where I got a rope handed to me and jumped in sync with Playtime, as if we were still doing exercises. It felt very good to do so, especially to my blood circulation.

"I kind of want to do this during sports class, too, to be honest. It's extremely normal and not childish at all, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I've been to a public gym for a few times, and I indeed saw people in their 20s and 30s jump rope as well, so why not do so in sports class?"

"Even if our classmates won't approve, we'll still stick with the decision!"

"And I should probably go to the public gym again soon, also to capture that on tape for proof…"

Playtime and I jumped some more until we grew a bit exhausted, which was at the same time that the bell rang.

* * *

After a physics class that ended in professor Watson promising that we'd test potato and lemon batteries during the next lesson, I sat in the cafeteria with John, MC, and Lacie.

"It's so cold in here, isn't it?" Lacie said, as she poked into her cheap steak with a fork. "So cold, that we have to keep the food warm above mere tea candles!"

"It all started with sports class" John said, "which was very chaotic today. First, Gayle had strained her lower back too much, and next up, the radiators and heaters broke down!"

"I do hope that it won't last for too long" I said, "but I cannot guarantee that since the weather won't be getting any better either. Before we know it, we'll have days off because of many metres of snow, and then, I cannot go to prom with you, Lacie!"

"Oh, but my school won't just let the weather stop the prom night! Even though I do hope that the heaters and such will still work by then, because we don't want to shiver to the music, do we now?"

"And for you guys, I also hope that they'll have warm and more luxurious steak by then" MC said, as he applied a bit of mayonnaise to a piece of his cheap steak. "At least the mayonnaise makes it better for now."

I decided to follow MC's idea, but by mixing my cut-up cheap steak, rice, spinach and mayonnaise together instead. I ate it, and that way, the nasty cold temperature of the foods wouldn't really bother me.

"You guys should really try it like this, so it won't taste like bland high school cafeteria food anymore."

"Mmm, it indeed is better, Torin" Lacie said upon eating the first bite. "I hope that tomorrow, your heaters and such will work again, because even I am longing for the warm but bland cafeteria food back at my school again."

"May I ask what that food is?" John asked. "Is it chipotle with the most expensive kind of beans, ground beef, corn and jalapeño?"

"No, no, the food is not that luxurious, John, and chipotle is not eaten that often either. It's mostly mashed potato that doesn't even contain real potatoes, as well as a few sloppy carrots and a sausage that lacks the gravy."

"That indeed sounds quite shabby, even for a prep-school like yours."

A little later, Lydia and Kris suddenly came to sit at our table, which we allowed them to do, of course.

"Hi there, Lacie" the girls greeted the formally-dressed blonde who dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin.

"Good day" Lacie greeted back, "it's very nice to see you guys as well."

"Have you asked your mother to help her cook here recently?" Kris asked. "I'm so curious about your kind of refined taste!"

Lacie shook her head, which made the little bells at the near end of her two braids jingle in the process.

"I wish, but I never seem to have the time! I should probably write that down in my list of direct reminders." Lacie grabbed a small notebook and a pen out of her bag and wrote it down.

"Perhaps you should ask her to help upcoming Friday" Lydia said, "because then, we're celebrating Christmas here with all sorts of fancy foods, like some sort of a brunch!"

"Yeah" I said, "and the ones who have cooking class partly perform in the cooking part as well!"

Lydia and Kris nodded in agreement and high-fived each other, as they are two of my classmates who follow cooking class rather than mechanics class.

"That idea sounds pretty nice, but I'm not too sure if I'll be able to come, since they'll be having a Christmas brunch at my school as well. Hey… maybe I could ask my cafeteria chef if I could help out?" Lacie wrote this idea down in her notebook as well.

"What school are you in again, Lacie?" MC asked.

"Elkrip Girls' High, which is a girls-only prep-school. I'm in my second-to-last year there, and also planning to go to this college afterwards." Lacie twitched her eyebrows twice while looking me in the eyes. "And by then, I'll be working on eventually going to the university to become a professional cook."

"That sounds pretty nice" John said, "you should definitely follow that dream."

Soon, the bell rang once again, but once we went into the classroom for English class, Mrs. British told us that the class was dismissed straight away because of the broken radiators and heaters.

"But what about the astrology and physics classes?" Meenah asked in a slight state of panic. "Do Ms. Hoshizora and professor Watson know about that, too?"

"Yes, they do, young lady Takahashi" Mrs. British said, "and professor Baldimore and principal McGonigal know about it, too, so there's no need to panic."

"I think a massive snowstorm may be on its way as well…!" Grant said in an excited tone, "oooh, that way, we'll get snow days and stay home instead!"

"Yeah, but what about the Christmas brunch upcoming Friday?" Kris said. "That way, me, Lydia, Colin and the others who have cooking class won't be able to help out! And what about Alice, and possibly Lacie, who is eager to help out as well?"

"Hey, what about the following?" I suggested. "If there's a snow day upcoming Friday, we should come together as a class somewhere else and celebrate it there? Not in my house, as it's too small."

"Oh, but the principal is always present, snow day or not" Playtime said, "so perhaps we could still go here for the morning!"

"Are you sure about that?" MC asked.

"The rumour indeed is true, young lady Dammer" Mrs. British said. "If there's a snowstorm, heat wave, hurricane or anything, principal McGonigal has to call the parents and caretakers of the students, or send e-mails to them, to let them all know that there's no school for the day before he leaves the building at about 9 a.m."

"Classmates, let's just meet here in front of the college upcoming Friday and see if the principal will still let us in" Dahlia said, "whether it's a snow day for us or not."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea at all" I said. "Alright, I hope to see you all again tomorrow." I stood back up, grabbed my backpack, put my coat and ushanka on and left the classroom as my classmates and Mrs. British wished me a nice day.

Outside, it had become freezing cold, and the rain had turned into thin snow as well. Lacie didn't seem to be around anywhere, so I headed home straight away.

"Torin, my son" my mother said upon seeing me, "home so soon?"

"Yeah, the heaters and radiators had broken down, and English class was suddenly dismissed in the process, so yeah." I took my coat, hat and shoes off and put them on or near the coat rack before heading for the living room and sitting down for a nice cup of tea.

"Winter is coming, and I'm glad you've prepared yourself for that so well. Before you know it, the snow will block the entrance of the college and the principal has to call you all from home."

"Well, mother, that's not true. Principal McGonigal is even present in college during snowstorms, hurricanes and such, to call all of the students that they don't have school, before he leaves around 9 a.m., or so Mrs. British told me."

"Is that so? I never knew that. If that's true, you should probably go there early upcoming Friday in case you still want to celebrate Christmas with your classmates."

"Oh, but that's our plan indeed. And that Lacie will come as well if her school will be closed down due to snow day as well."

"But that's very nice, my son. I'm only just glad that you have such kind classmates and friends with whom you're willing to spend some good times."

"We'll just see what the rest of the week will bring me, and until then, I can figure some stuff out." I blew into my cup of tea and took a careful sip, feeling myself warm up from the inside the second it reached my tongue.


	6. Christmas with the classmates

And before I knew it, the rest of the week flew by pretty quickly. A snowstorm had been going on ever since that week's Wednesday, and ever since, all of the college students had snow days and some homework to make at home and give to their respective teachers and professors later on.

Today, it was Friday, and my class and I had hosted and celebrated the Christmas brunch at college today, which kind of went like this.

None of our classmates had set a time to meet in front of the college, but I, myself, got up at 7 a.m., prepared myself for the day, and left the house only 45 minutes later. I was the first one to arrive at college and knock on its door, which resulted in no response at first…

Until around 8 a.m., where a few of my classmates finally showed up as well.

"Good morning, Torin" MC and Gayle greeted me in unison.

"G'morning" I greeted them back.

And there we stood, not just me, MC and Gayle, but also Meenah, Dahlia, Grant, Jamey, and Colin. I tried to knock on the door once again, which did result in principal McGonigal opening up this time.

"Oh, good morning to you guys" principal McGonigal greeted us. "You know that you all have a snow day, right?"

"Yes, sir" Dahlia said, "but we still felt like coming here because my classmates and I wanted to do the Christmas brunch anyway."

"That's very nice. Will it just be your class, or more?"

"Just us."

At the same time, some more classmates arrived, as well as Alice and Lacie.

"Lacie, oh my gosh, hi!" I said as I walked up to her.

"Hi, Torin" Lacie said, as she wrapped me into a warm embrace. "I'm so glad that I'm still able to be here, since my school has snow day as well. Plus, this'll be my first time of helping my mother with the cooking, and I'm very curious about what you all will think about it!"

"Me too, my friend." Lacie and I let go of each other and I looked her in the eyes with a smile. I saw that she was wearing make-up on the right half of her face. (The side facing my left side.) "I love how unique your make-up is."

"Thank you. This is my second ever time of doing so, and ever since the first time, I've been considering to wear this look for prom, and I'm glad you like it."

"In that case, you really should."

Eventually, when everyone (save for It's a Bully, who found the whole idea of our Christmas brunch boring) was there, we were all allowed to go inside, where, fortunately, the heaters and radiators worked again. If only I could get an opportunity to fix them, as I'm eager to become a professional mechanic later on!

Rather than in our classroom or the kitchen that was always being used for cooking class, we did our Christmas brunch in the cafeteria instead, as there was more space for food and people.

Alice and Lacie weren't the only ones who prepared the foods. My classmates who had cooking class rather than mechanics class (Lydia, Kris, Colin, Dahlia, Playtime, Grant, Halley, and some more) also helped them out, to put both their recently-learned and less recent skills to the test as well.

We the students who did have mechanics class instead just waited for the food to be done so we could help the others with putting it on display and putting plastic plates, cups and cutlery on the tables.

"What will you all be doing this Christmas?" Gayle asked. "Me, I'll be visiting my grandparents in Baltimore, as we always celebrate Christmas with the entire family there."

"I don't know" Bill said, "Christmas has always been a bit rocky ever since my parents' divorce when I was 14… for the last few years, we did nothing, but yesterday, my eldest brother had suggested that we should celebrate it at his house, with presents and glühwein and stuff…"

"Neither do I know" I said, "but my mother said that I could always celebrate it with Andrew and Jeff, so I may just do so, since I don't even have any aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and such."

"That must suck. I have a ton of aunts and uncles and only just a few cousins, and I'm somehow closer to my four brothers. Indeed, now that I think about it, we always celebrate 'important' holidays as only a legion of brothers, and without our parents." Bill laughed upon this sudden realisation.

"You know what really sucks, Bill?" MC said, "having divorced parents and no siblings at all, but I'm lucky that my parents don't have to take care of me anymore and that I have an own little condo where I can ask my neighbours to come over, or vice versa."

"Dude, if only I would live like that right now!" Meenah said, enthusiastically. "I think I'm the classmate with most of the siblings, having nine of those, and my parents don't really seem to be ready to let the four eldest ones, including me, leave the house!"

"My parents are still hospitalised" John said, "and believe it or not, temporarily having to take care of your 15-year-old sister in such a situation is quite intense for a nearly 19-year-old someone like me! The two of us are only glad if visitation of our parents has been granted to us, and we really hope to experience that again really soon."

"Wow, it amazes me how so many situations are different here" Gayle said. "Bill and Torin, I hope that Christmas with your brothers and ex-stepfather will go well for you. MC, I hope that you and the neighbours will cook up a nice Christmas storm soon. And John, I hope your parents will recover really soon for the sake of you and your sister!" She turned to Meenah. "You and your parents and siblings do co-operate often, I hope?"

"Of course" Meenah replied, "it's not just that I spend an entire period of Christmas on just drawing and painting or everything!" She gently pulled and fidgeted with the utmost end of her two short braids, of which the upper half was mostly hidden underneath her black beanie.

"Do you even draw during Christmas and such?"

"Yes, but not stereotypical pumpkins, eggs, pine trees and such, mostly just some watercolour fusions that match the colours of that season." She burst out in laughter. "Just like the colours of the clothes I wear at that exact moment!"

I looked at Meenah's white hoodie and light grey sweatpants, and saw that right now, they were indeed spotted, stained and speckled with metallic red, white, green and glittery golden paint, the typical Christmas colours. She, as a professional artist in the making, always wore such clothes, but no-one dared to bother her about them, and accepted them as a part of her instead.

"Your work should really be in a museum" I said, "even if it's 'only just' the watercolour aesthetic thing."

"Yeah, I've been considering to partake in art expositions for a long time now, but only just ended up visiting them. Perhaps I should do so once the new year arrives?"

Before we all knew it, the foods were done, and within the blink of an eye, a simple but pleasurable Christmas brunch took place. Even principal McGonigal insisted on eating a bite along with us, which we all didn't even expect.

Lots of foods were prepared and cooked by Alice, Lacie and the cooking class pupils: cheesy fusilli gratin, tomato soup with green lentils, jacket potatoes with sour cream and herbs, spicy marinated ribs, bean salad, savoury sandwiches, and so much more. And it all tasted amazing, of which Lacie approved to the fullest since this was her first time of cooking along with her mother in the cafeteria. (She cooked at home more often than in public.)

Just as everyone wanted to take a second batch of food, we suddenly heard the sound of a ruler slapping on a hand. Could it be…?

"Uh-oh…" Kris said, as she swallowed her last mouthful hard, "we forgot to inform professor Baldimore on this, and I don't think he likes that too much…!"

"You've got that wrong, Kris" professor Baldimore said from a few metres ahead. "The principal told me about it, but I arrived a little late. I'm only just glad that I didn't miss anything out so far!" He finally revealed his full self in the cafeteria and caused the chatter between everyone else to continue.

"Yeah" Colin said, "but why did you have to do that ruler thing upon arriving here? Some of us were scared to death just now, professor!"

"You were? Dear me, my deepest apologies… I should really learn to not use my ruler outside of class."

"You indeed should, Dad" an unknown, youthful voice suddenly said, silencing us all once again.

"Dad?" Anthony said.

"Wait, who said that?!" Halley asked in disbelief.

"His son, of course" I chuckled. "Wait, he never told anyone but me about having a family of his own? Jemis crispies…"

Professor Baldimore nodded in agreement about my statement, and revealed his wife and son to us.

"Class, Alice, Lacie, I'd like to introduce you all to Susan and Andrew, my wife and son, who also have a snow day from work and school today."

Once again, the chatter returned, as we all wanted to introduce ourselves to Susan and Andrew, as they never even met us before. (Just except principal McGonigal, who seems to be on very good terms with professor Baldimore, and even spends time with him in his free time behind our backs, which is also the way in which he learned to know Susan and Andrew, of course.)

"It's really nice to have you all here" Lacie said, "please, have some good food and a seat."

"What would you like to eat?" Alice asked. "Just some simple sandwiches, or perhaps a bowl of soup or gratin?"

And just as soon, we the classmates got our second batch of food, and once everything had successfully been eaten by everyone around, we all had various kinds of ice cream and fresh fruits to choose from.

Once we were all done eating, we the classmates helped Alice and Lacie out with cleaning and tidying everything up before leaving the college building for about two weeks of winter break. Alice and Lacie were very pleased with our effort and selflessness, and thanked us and the principal for having them over today, and also told us that they had an amazing time with us.

* * *

Right now, I'm packing my suitcase and bags for an entire week at my ex-stepfather's house, and I let Jeff know that I'd come there via an e-mail.

=ß=

_Dear Jeff,_

_This morning, professor Baldimore (and his wife and son!), principal McGonigal, Alice, nearly all of my classmates (It's a Bully found the following a boring idea), Lacie and I had an amazing Christmas brunch, despite the fact that today was a snow day and we wouldn't have any college hours. But upon seeing me and my classmates in front of the building, the principal let us inside anyway, and we still did the Christmas brunch. It was so pleasurable, just us who were present!_

_Right now, I'm about to pack some luggage to take a plane to you, because my mother said that I'm allowed to visit you and your father to celebrate Christmas and the dawn of the new year with you guys! Pretty amazing, isn't it? As for her, she'll celebrate Christmas with some of her high school friends instead, and she doesn't mind at all, which is also pretty amazing._

_Will we see each other at the airport, or at your father's house? (Of course I still know the address!) In any case, I'll be heading for you really soon!_

_Best wishes, Torin_

=ß=

As soon as I'll be heading for the airport, my mother will be heading for her friend's house to gather there with their other friends. As for pets and houseplants, we don't have any, and my mother will also bring the possible foods along to keep on consuming, and freeze the other possible half of them until when we both come back home.

My ex-stepfather's house is only an hour in an airplane away from my home state, and I'm really curious about how they're doing right now.


	7. The final countdown is near

Once again, time flew like a rocket, and right now, it's February, and the graduation exams are also near, for which I'm revising quite a lot at the moment, even though the exams themselves will officially start in March. They do consist of many parts, though, so revising this much is indeed a mandatory thing for me to do now.

But another thing that I was longing for (yep, I literally long for exams!) is also today, which is the prom at Lacie's school, the only event on which males are also allowed in the building, aside of the graduations, of course. I kind of wonder how everyone else will react.

* * *

Another day in college. Per semester, the timetable would change dramatically, but by now, I was quite used to that, in contrast to all of my classmates. However, they had no right to complain, because Friday's time table was pretty relaxed, even for the other half of my classmates who followed the cooking, biology, sociology, French and PSE classes, rather than the mechanics, planetology, astrology, science and algebra classes.

Just now, we finished sports class, and are following an English lesson, which features yet another test to prepare us for the graduation exams.

"Are you all sure that you have revised well prior to this test?" Mrs. British asked in a strict tone.

"Yes, ma'am" we all replied.

"Good, now let the test start."

Silence fell, minus the sound of the pens and pencils going over the pieces of paper, and, occasionally, the sound of erasers going over the pieces of paper, pages being turned, and breathing. The perfect atmosphere in which one would do their graduation exams. Zen. Or whatever you want to call it.

A little more than 45 minutes later, I finally finished the test, and wiped the hard-work sweat from underneath my long bangs, which had also become pretty moist by it.

"Very good work, everyone" Mrs. British said, once she received everyone's tests, "now, feel free to take a little breather, because once you all will get spring break, you should spend those hours wisely on revising for all of your exams."

"Aw, do we have to?" Playtime moaned.

"There's not always place for playtime, Dammer" It's a Bully scoffed, as he took her jump rope from her bag. "Thanks for the generous donation."

"Hey, that's not fair! That makes me sad!"

"Goodness" Anthony sighed in a very annoyed tone, "stop moaning about how 'difficult' the graduation exams will be, Lucy! And Ethan, I swear to the King of all Cosmos, please stop stealing anybody's stuff, because it'll never really be yours anyway!"

Everyone's eyes widened at how Anthony suddenly addressed Playtime and It's a Bully by their real names, as this never even happened among us the classmates.

"Well said, Anthony" Meenah said in a pleased tone. "Even Mrs. British seems flabbergasted about this."

I looked at Mrs. British, and indeed saw an unusual look on her face, as well as a pleased one.

It's a Bully meekly handed the jump rope back to Playtime and leaned backward in his chair.

"I'm bored…"

"Get a job, or something" Halley chuckled, making everyone else, save for It's a Bully, laugh along with her.

At the same time, It's a Bully fell down loudly, chair and all, making the entire classroom shake as if there was an earthquake, due to his overweight. We all applauded and cheered in response.

"Serves you right, fatso" Bill laughed.

"Now, now" Mrs. British interrupted everyone, "I said that this was the time for a breather, not to fall backward in your chair all willy-nilly." She sighed loudly. "Alright, class dismissed. Young man Anderson, we need to talk, so please don't leave."

I left the classroom with nearly all of my classmates, and we sat down on the several benches in the hallway to talk and gossip some more.

"Playtime, my apologies for being so annoyed towards you just now" Anthony said, "you see, I was just really tired after finishing that test, and I really needed a breather afterwards."

"It's no big deal" Playtime said, "I also needed a breather!"

"I think everyone did" Jamey chuckled, making everyone else chuckle along with him.

"It's a Bully will probably not pass the upcoming graduation exams" Gayle said, "seeing as he leans backward in his chair and subsequently causes an entire earthquake through the building." Once again, everyone laughed.

"I wonder what will happen" MC said.

At the same time, It's a Bully finally got out of the classroom, but right now, he was carrying a sign around his neck, which said 'this is a bully'. My classmates and I chuckled about it.

Serves him just right, I thought while smiling smugly, the entire college needs to know that.

Just as the bell rang, the college janitor rushed through the halls at his usual unusual speed, as if he was using his broom to practise flying, rather than cleaning. I always found him a rather peculiar person, to be honest. Why did he always run through the halls like this? And more to the point, would principal McGonigal approve of this, or not?

"Gotta sweep sweep sweep!" he exclaimed, making it clear that we weren't allowed to get up just yet.

"Gotta Sweep is up and at it again…" Colin chuckled as he rolled his eyes and also smiled smugly. (Gotta Sweep was the nickname that everyone referred the janitor to, due to his iconic sentence that he always said while practically flying on his broom through the halls.)

We all got up from the benches and went outside for a bit, as the bitter winter cold had decreased somewhat by now.

* * *

Later today, the evening fell, which meant that the long-awaited prom finally took place at Lacie's school.

I arrived at her school 15 minutes too early (but better early than never, right?), and was allowed to enter already, as the evening temperatures in February could be quite harsh, too.

"Good evening" the lady at the door said upon letting me into the building, "can I have your name, please?"

"Torin English" I said. "I'm a friend of Lacie's."

"Very well then. You're dressed just as we expected. I'm pleased about that. Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

"Some carbonated water to start with, please."

"Very well then." The lady went to the counter of the cafeteria and got me my drink.

Soon, I didn't seem to be alone anymore. Lacie arrived, along with some of her classmates and their (boy)friends.

"Hi, Lacie!"

"Torin!" Lacie exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so glad that you're here already!" She ran up to me and gave me a hug. "You look very nice in your tux!"

"Thanks. Your dress looks very cute on you."

Lacie simply smiled widely, paired with a giggle. She wore a pink, frilly, princess-esque dress, and the right half of her face was covered in make-up once again. That look was very unique, and it never got old for me.

"Lacie, I keep on wondering why you always wear make-up over half your face?" a classmate with metallic blue hair asked, "rather than over your entire face?" She had her entire face caked in matching makeup, which was coloured several hues of blue.

"Because, Jillian. Just because."

"Alright."

I simply smiled as I somewhat listened to several conversations.

"Torin, I'd like to introduce you to a few of my best classmates." Lacie went towards a few of the girls. "These are Jillian, Maureen, and Karen. Girls, this is Torin, about whom I always tell… and who's still not my boyfriend, but really my best friend."

"Hi" the three girls greeted me, as I greeted them back the same way.

Lacie chuckled, sat down next to me and started whispering into my ear.

"My classmates always think that I'm in love with you, or vice versa… but that's not true, is it?"

"Of course it isn't" I chuckled. "You've always been a regular best friend to me."

"Oh, but I do have a boyfriend" Karen said, as she told a random raven-haired young lad to get up. "Torin, this is Odeko, and I've known him for three years straight. He goes to the boys' prep-school, which is just across ours."

Odeko and I shook hands and greeted each other.

A little while later, the same lady from the door gave everyone the drinks that they wanted.

"Thank you very much, ma'am" I said.

"Thank you, Ms. Harvey" Lacie said, as she accepted her glass of orange juice from the lady. "She's our arts and crafts teacher, who may look quite strict, but is really a very kind woman."

"I see" I said.

"What kind of courses do you follow at school, Torin?" Maureen asked.

"English, maths, sports, physics, science, mechanics, astrology, planetology, and algebra, since I'm studying to become a mechanic. Right now, I'm only just a mediocre inventor of robots that peel potatoes."

"That actually sounds pretty cool" Odeko said. "I want to become something that way, too. Are you attending the Here College?"

I nodded.

"Nice! I'm planning to go there after the graduation exams, too! I'm in 12th grade, and my exams start next month."

"Splendid! Mine as well, good luck!"

Once again, Odeko and I shook hands while smiling.

Only a few seconds later, someone walked into the building, carrying a computer, turntables and such. They wore a bandanna in front of their nose and mouth, as well as a small straw hat, which somewhat made them look like a cowboy. I presumed that they'd be the DJ for tonight.

"Oooh, it's about to begin…!" Karen squealed, "my first ever prom…!"

"My second ever" Odeko and I said in unison, looking at each other in surprise upon noticing.

"My first ever prom was the worst ever because of my horrible excuse of an ex back then!" I told him. "Let's hope this one will definitely make up for it!"

"It will!" Odeko said, "as my previous prom wasn't the best, either, due to a classmate of mine who ruined it for all of us back then."

"And now, ladies and gentlemen" an unknown voice said, which was louder due to some microphone, "let this prom of the Elkrip Girls' High School of 1998 start! I, DJ Cyclops Toadstool, will be arranging all of your favourite tunes tonight!" It was the aforementioned DJ, who was about to play their music and start up the prom.

Everyone cheered as the first few high vocal notes of an African-esque song started playing:

_Hee-hee-hee-hee, hee-hee-hee-hee-hee, a-hee-ah-wimoweh!_

"Dude, this song is amazing!" I exclaimed with a wide smile, "despite the fact that it exists even longer than I'm alive!"

"I know, right?" Jillian chuckled, "even my grandmother still knows about this one!"

"I think it's time to have some chips now!" Lacie said, "c'mon, boy!" She and I headed to the counter, where Alice stood.

"Hi, Torin!" she greeted me, "it's nice to see you tonight! What will it be?"

"Some plain salted chips, please" I said, as I gave her a few dollars.

Soon, Lacie and I were both dancing, talking and eating from the bowl of chips that we shared.

"So how was college today?"

"Pretty funny, actually. It all started with English class, after the test that prepares us for the graduation exam."

"Let me guess, someone has told a bad joke about how Mrs. British is supposed to speak with a British accent?"

"No, no, that's still a story of our first year, and when Penny Pigtails was still in our class." I took another handful of chips and ate it. "It's a Bully made another ruckus by falling down with his chair, and he had to talk to Mrs. British, and once he was allowed to leave the classroom, he had this sign around his neck that said 'this is a bully'. Serves him well, right?"

"Well, you bet your sweet ass it does!" Lacie tried to hold back a chuckle as she also stuffed her cheeks with chips. "I swear to the King of all Cosmos, he'll have to go to college for a third year if he keeps on behaving like that!"

"And perhaps even for a fourth year, too! He'll do all of its years!" We both laughed loudly and happily as the first few rock-'n-roll style notes of the next song started.

I saw that most of the schoolgirls were dancing with their classmates and (boy)friends in the more 'open' part of the cafeteria, and kind of felt like doing the same.

"Wanna dance, Lace?" I grabbed Lacie's hand and went towards the dance floor with her.

"You bet!"

"DJ Cyclops Toadstool is and will always be the best music player!" Maureen exclaimed. "I know them from when Raj and I went to a summer disco last year! Right, my sweet?" She frantically danced more with her boyfriend.

"I wonder if college will have an after-party for the graduates as well!" I chuckled. "In that case, I'll tell everyone about DJ Cyclops Toadstool as well, and perhaps principal McGonigal will be willing to contact them, too!"

"In that case, you should invite me, too!" Lacie said.

"No problem, because I will!"

* * *

Many songs later, it turned out to be 8:30 p.m., but that didn't let me go home just yet, since the party wouldn't end until about one hour later. Plus, the delicious foods and drinks wouldn't even let you leave!

"Who wants M&M's?!" Karen exclaimed, as she and Odeko carried a huge bowl of M&M's towards me and my group of friends.

I immediately grabbed a handful out of the bowl and stuffed my mouth with it. Oh, how I loved to be so informal after having to behave more formally in college.

"Whoa there, friend, you might need to slow down!" Jillian laughed. "We're first-world residents, not third-world ones!" She also grabbed a handful of M&M's, but ate them in small portions instead.

I smiled smugly despite having my cheeks stuffed full of the many colourful chocolate pearls, and started chanting along with the current song:

_You know it's like that, and that's the way it is_

_Because it's like that, and that's the way it is_

And so on for many, many lines until the next song started.

"Such great timing while I exactly have my cheeks full of M&M's! Whoo!"

Lacie laughed about how rambunctious I was acting, took a few more M&M's and dragged me back to the dance floor, where we casually danced some more.

"This is a song for couples and people in love only, though" Lacie chuckled, "which we're not, of course. But I still love it!"

"So do I!" I finally swallowed my mouth's contents. "And it's kind of about candy as well, which we just had!"

"Ah, but of course!"

Throughout the course of the party, many songs were being played. Ones from my era, but also ones from my grandparents' and mother's era. Mostly English ones, but occasionally, ones in different languages (one being German) as well. DJ Cyclops Toadstool surely had a good music taste, and I'd definitely tell principal McGonigal about them later on, in case my college will have a graduation party soon.

The rest of the party went by pretty smoothly, and afterwards, Alice was even so nice to bring me back home by car afterwards! That way, she and my mother finally got to know each other in person, because Lacie and I may've told a lot of stories about each other to our mothers, but that didn't make them know us the friends better, of course.

Rather than listening to them rambling for what seemed ages, I just got into the shower, brushed my teeth and got ready for bed, because it was becoming quite late already. Logical, if you've been to a party that lasted until a time that was near your usual bedtime.

The next day, I would have to get ready for the graduation exams by revising for many, many hours during the spring break… fingers crossed that I'll pass them and graduate soon!

* * *

_A/N: While typing this chapter out, I looked on Google for a bit regarding prom music, and such music mostly regards the songs that are very popular nowadays (about 2019-2020), so I thought that in the 90s, the songs that were very popular back then would go well in the (stereo)typical 90s prom of this chapter! While reading the part where DJ Cyclops Toadstool (a spoof on my own DJ alias, Alien Mushroom) starts turning up the beats, just imagine them playing songs like "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", "I'm Still Standing", "It's Like That", "Sugar, Sugar" (the first four being played and mentioned directly), "Rasputin", "Take On Me", "The Final Countdown", "Mad World", "Phenomenon", "Disco Inferno" and whatnot. ;)_


	8. The first step to good news

It's the utmost start of May. The graduation exams have taken place recently, and right now, I was at home, waiting to receive the results via the mail or phone.

The exams were not as intense as I thought they'd be. Indeed, they were quite easy for me to make, and out of all people from class 2A, I was the black sheep to have finished them all at first.

The best part about the exams was that for most of the courses (English, maths and physics), we only got to sit with the people from our class, and that we only made the exams with people from other classes if it came to astrology, planetology, science, mechanics and algebra.

Most of the people that'd make the exams were in their second year (like me), and there were only very few that were in their third or fourth year, as my college works on letting people graduate early in order to let them go to the university, art school and whatnot. But if someone would do a third, and very occasionally fourth year, it wouldn't be too much of a hassle either, because that way, they'd only have more time to prepare for their next step in education.

Right now, I was extremely nervous, and one of my very few ways to relieve that was by playing games on my computer. I had always been very good at card games like solitaire and hearts, and even played several rounds of solitaire right now.

At the same time, I was logged into the e-mail network as well, because soon, I wanted to let everyone (of whom I had their e-mail addresses as well) know if I would've passed my exams or not. I truly hoped so, of course, because in certain cases, hard-working people would always get lower grades, and get higher ones if they'd barely do anything. No offense, but a few of my classmates were such cases.

Just as I wanted to look for new cards in the digital deck, the phone started ringing, startling me from my game. I rushed out of my room, towards the telephone, and answered it.

"Hello, this is the English household, Torin speaking" I said.

"Good day, young man English" the voice over the phone said, "this is principal McGonigal speaking."

My stomach grew nervous upon recognising the principal's voice.

"I'm calling you to let you know that you've officially passed your exams, congratulations on that!"

"Well, thank you very much, principal McGonigal!"

"However, you won't get your college degree just yet, since the graduations will take place next month, and the degrees for the graduates are yet to be made."

"I understand. Thank you for informing me, principal McGonigal. Have a nice day."

"You have a nice day too, young man English."

_Click!_

I put the receiver back on-hook and rushed back to my computer to send an e-mail to Jeff and Lacie that I finally graduated.

=ß=

_Dear Jeff and Lacie,_

_Just now, principal McGonigal called me that I have officially passed my exams! I kind of wonder what my grades will be, because I worked hard, despite the fact that most of the hard-working students always get the lowest grades, which is quite strange, I must confess._

_However, the graduation day isn't until somewhere in June, so that's yet another thing to be nervous and impatient about right now. In any case, you two are absolutely allowed to come there to see me in a gown and a cap, holding my official college degree!_

_Of course, I'm still looking for a university to go to, and this is still something that I need to discuss with my mother, because there are not many universities near my home, and she's the only one who's really able to drive a car. Me, I still need to save up for driving lessons, in both money and spare time._

_So that's all that I needed to tell for now. Once the date of graduation day is more clear, I'll let you guys know!_

_Best wishes and love, Torin_

=ß=

I hit the send button and continued playing solitaire, as this round was just getting quite heated for me.

But once again, I was interrupted, and this time, it was my mother who came home with the groceries. I jumped up from my seat once again and sat down at the table in the dining area.

"And?" my mother asked, as she stored the groceries in the cabinets, freezer and fridge.

"I passed my exams…!" I said with a genuinely happy smile.

"Goodness, congratulations, son!" My mother hugged me tightly. "When is the official graduation day?"

"I don't know exactly, but principal McGonigal said that it'll take place in June, in any case."

"That's very nice, son. Say, does anyone else but me know about it yet?"

"Well, only Jeff and Lacie do… but now that I think about it, I'd better let my classmates know, too!" I rushed towards the phone once again and dialled MC's number at first.

Come on, I thought as the phone kept on beeping, please answer…

"Hello, this is Michael Canning speaking" MC said over the phone.

"Hi, MC, this is Torin!" I said. "I passed my exams, what about you?"

"Oh, it's you! Hi, Torin! Yes, I indeed passed them as well!"

"Congrats, man! It was quite intense, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I think that applied to all of us…!"

"Am I the first one being dialled about this by a classmate?"

"Rather quite, you indeed are. You probably should dial the others as well, and then, we should probably meet outside of college pretty soon! What do you think of that?"

"That idea sounds pretty nice. You know what, thanks to you, I get this urge to dial Anthony about it, so I will."

"Very well, see you later!"

_Click!_

Up next, I dialled John's number. This time, it took a little longer before he answered, and it wasn't just that the beeping took longer…!

"Hello, Hussie household" a familiar voice of a young lady said, "June speaking." It was John's younger sister.

"Hi June, Torin here" I said, "is John around?"

"He definitely is." It sounded like June held the receiver against her chest. "John, it's for you!"

A little later, it sounded like the receiver was finally being handed to John.

"Hi Torin, it's me" John said. "Did you pass your exams?"

"I did! What about you?"

"Congrats, man! So did I!"

"Thanks, congrats to you, too!"

"Thank you, too! You're the first one to call me about this!"

"Actually, I'm the second person that I'm calling regarding passing the exams, but okay."

"Who else did you call, then?"

"MC. Perhaps you should dial a number of another classmate to ask and let them know? Because MC is calling Anthony about it right now, and we also planned to meet outside of college pretty soon! Only the ones who did pass their exams, though."

"Oh, but that idea sounds amazing! In that case, I'll be dialling Meenah soon, and until then, see you outside of college!"

"Bye!"

_Click!_

* * *

Later today, my classmates who passed the exams and I sat outside of the college building, on several stone ornaments and benches. Surprisingly, everyone from my class had passed the exams, even It's a Bully, of whom we didn't even expect it.

"I promise I didn't overlook anyone else's work, you know?" It's a Bully said. "It's one of the few things that I did good, isn't it now?"

"It surely is" Anthony said. "Now, what is everyone planning to do after graduating from college?"

"I'm going to a university, of course" I said, "but near my home, there don't seem to be any that specialise in mechanics and such."

"There is" Meenah said. "Do you know the city of Fishersville? It's near Waynesboro, and at the utmost edge, there's a whole disarray of universities and other tertiary education facilities, including the art school where I'll be going soon, as well as a new university that specialises in mechanics and such!"

"Oh, that's a coincidence, I was born in Fishersville! So that means that there's an all-new facility that does specialise in the stuff that I really want to do up next? That's pretty cool. I should tell my mother about it so we don't have to look any longer."

"But be quick about it, Torin, because a new university also means a whole lot of people who want to go there, and before you know it, there's no more room for you."

"I heard that a lot of tertiary education facilities are new there" Halley said, "including the music school that I'll be heading to up next."

"You won't be alone in that, Hal" Gayle said. "I may just become your classmate there. What kind of instrument do you play? I play the trumpet."

"Cool. I play the piano for about 15 years now, and I want to become a professional pianist later on."

"In that case" Bill said, "you may just see my older brother Craig there, because he also aims for being a professional musician. Me, I'll be heading for the university as well, but to focus on astrology and such instead. It's located in Ladd."

"I'll do something with sports" It's a Bully said, "but I don't know what just yet."

"Wrestling may just be the thing for you" Jamey said, "so in case we'll be each other's classmate again, watch out for me, because I've been wrestling ever since my first year of middle school, and believe it or not, I can knock someone out within the blink of an eye."

"That's really cool" Kris said, "I somewhat wish I could defend myself like that, too."

"You're never too old to learn anything, my friend." Jamey patted Kris's shoulder.

We all talked some more about what we wanted to do up next, when suddenly, some of our former teachers recognised us.

"Former class 2A?" professor Curie asked. "What brings you here?"

"A place to meet to discuss that we passed our exams and what we want to do after college" Grant said, "and the first thing that we all thought of was here, of course."

"Very wise thinking" professor Baldimore said, "I'm so glad to see my former class being this sociable."

We all chuckled in response.

"Mostly…" MC whispered in my ear, "because normally, we never commune with It's a Bully, right?"

I nodded and smiled.

"Will you miss us as a class of yours, professor Baldimore?" Meenah jokingly asked.

"Meenah!" Anthony said with a slight eye-roll.

"Relax, dude, it was meant as a joke…"

"Despite the fact that you mean it like a joke, Meenah" professor Baldimore said, "I actually will. In fact, you guys were one of the few classes that mostly behaved well and towards whom I barely had to use my ruler to correct you!"

"That was obviously not correcting" professor Curie said while rolling her eyes.

"Ditto…" John softly chuckled in my ear, making me smile smugly.

"Oh, but professor Baldimore" I said, "we do promise to still behave just as formally as we did in front of you, once we head to the university. Especially I will, because I know that in class, I'm quite different than outside of it."

"I can trust you in that, Torin" professor Baldimore chuckled, as he went towards me and leaned towards my ear. "I'll also have you know that out of everyone who passed their exams, you have the highest grades! Mostly stuff in the way of an A…!"

My eyes lit up upon hearing this, and my smug smile turned into an ecstatic one once again.

"What are you all smiling about, Torin?" Bill asked.

"Oh, nothing special" I said. "You all shall not know until the graduation day…!" I went back to smiling smugly, with my eyes aimed to the right.


	9. Graduated while I still could!

A lot had happened in the meantime after officially passing my college exams. One of the events was that I had to do an entrance exam in order to be allowed at my soon-to-be university. One week later, I received the results in the mail, and I was permitted there, of which I approved to the fullest.

Another event is that I was about to follow driving lessons in order to be able to drive to my soon-to-be university, since Waynesboro and Fishersville are not too close to each other.

Also, I wouldn't live with my mother anymore soon, since the university that I'll be going to also has a campus with dormitories, of which a few were still available, so I grabbed that opportunity and got allowed on the campus as well. Now to look for some fitting furniture as soon as I finally have the time…!

The campus didn't just belong to the mechanics university, though. It was a shared campus that belonged to the several tertiary education facilities, including the art school, so there'd be a chance that Meenah would possibly become one of my neighbours…!

Lacie, however, would still be someone I'd really miss in Waynesboro, since she cannot just come along to the university with me. She still had one more year of prep-school before going to college and/or the university after her graduation exams next year. But she did promise me to come over to my dormitory as soon as I would've officially moved and settled there, so that's another good thing.

* * *

Today was the official graduation day. The receiving of the diplomas and degrees took place in the late morning, rather than the near-evening, since after that prom back in February, I spoke to principal McGonigal regarding a graduation party, and he agreed with the idea. So later today, there's the official graduation party that I'll be at.

Before the graduations could officially start, I had to put on a graduation cap and gown, and all of the other graduates had to do that as well.

"Dude, I feel like a hecking monk in this gown" I chuckled.

"I feel like some kind of a nun as well…!" Kris laughed, "just except the hat, of course."

"We should be glad that the hats aren't veils or anything" Meenah jokingly stated, "because rather than like a nun, I kind of feel like a bride of some sort!"

"I kind of wonder what your wedding dress will look like, in this case" John said, "perhaps a paint-stained one?"

"Oh, you!" Meenah jokingly pinched John's cheek.

"Students" professor Baldimore said, "please enter the hallway and line up on the stage in order to receive your degrees."

"Yes, sir" my classmates and I said in unison before doing what we were asked to do.

On the many chairs that stood in front of the stage, everyone's family and friends sat. In one of the middle rows, my mother sat, next to a few other parents of my classmates. Somewhat in a front row, Alice sat there with her husband Timothy, and Lacie also sat there next to her younger brother Tim. Andrew, my ex-stepfather, was also present along with his son Jeff, and I was really glad that they were able to make it here for me.

Everyone applauded once my classmates, the other college graduates and I showed up and neatly arranged ourselves on the stage.

Principal McGonigal would hold a very long and somewhat boring speech at first before the tutors would each announce one of their students in order to hand them their degrees.

"And the first one to whom I'll be handing a degree…" professor Baldimore started after the principal's long speech.

Silence fell, minus the muttering of everyone's family and friends.

"…is Michael Canning!"

MC went to professor Baldimore to accept his degree, and afterwards, he went back to his original standing spot, where he proudly showed his degree to everyone else.

"I'm very thankful for this amazing year of college" he said, "and for my classmates Torin and John, who helped me get through the tough times and gave me this one little boost of confidence back when the exams only just started."

Everyone applauded after hearing MC's short speech.

"The next receiver of a college degree is Jonathan Phillip Hussie."

John walked up to professor Baldimore to receive his college degree as well before giving his short speech.

"This year of college seemed like a gruelling one at first" he said, "due to my parents still being hospitalised back at the start of the first semester, and the juggling between college and taking care of my little sister June because of it, but thanks to MC, Torin and professor Baldimore, I was still able to make the most of it, through thick and thin, hot and cold, you name it."

As everyone applauded, I rubbed John's back as I saw some tears in his eyes.

"You did amazing, buddy" I said, "you surely deserved this college degree."

"Our third receiver of a college degree, who really showed that he did his absolute best during the exams, is Torin Ira English."

I smiled, went towards professor Baldimore to accept my college degree, and breathed in deeply, preparing myself for my short speech.

"College was a great big success for me if it comes to education" I said. "After all that I've been through back in high school, with my ex-girlfriend and all, college gave me a huge boost of self-confidence and some more space to think things out. I've always been a hard worker with lots of high grades if it came to school, but in comparison to the high school graduation exams, I thought that the college graduation exams went a lot better, presumably due to the warm and more trustful atmosphere around here. I'm very grateful for everything and everyone who helped me through those tough times, including MC, Lacie, Jeff, and professor Baldimore."

A longer applause was granted to me because my speech seemed very touching to everyone, not just the families and friends, but also the teachers and professors and even the principal.

A few dozens of graduates receiving their college degrees later, we were all allowed to throw our hats into the air and cheer as everyone else applauded for us.

"Too bad for a few of the second-years in the other group of students that they'll have to do a third year soon" I chuckled.

"It serves Penny Pigtails right" MC laughed, "after all she did to us, and then to It's a Bully."

"I kind of wonder if It's a Bully will still be a bully at the sports school?" Jamey said. "If so, I'll wrestle him down hard!"

"At least I'll be in a different group of students than him" Playtime said, "as I'll do the training of being a fitness instructor instead!"

"You're not just going to teach the others how to jump rope later on, are you?" Gayle jokingly said.

"No, no, of course not, fitness isn't just jumping rope, you know!"

"I'm very proud of you that you chose that form of education despite your eyesight" Lydia said. "You shouldn't ever let anything stop you from your dream goals!"

"I hope to be able to fix the radiators here as soon as I have received my next degree!" I jokingly said, making all of the others laugh.

* * *

That evening, the graduation party was all hip and happening. DJ Cyclops Toadstool was present, and they seemed to have never been at the Here College or a graduation party before, so this would be a totally new experience for them.

As promised, I invited Lacie over, but she wasn't alone. Her other best friend Karen was there, too, along with her boyfriend Odeko.

At the moment, everyone was going all loose on the _Funkytown_ song.

"You really seem to love parties right now, huh?" MC said to me.

"Yeah!" I said, "I never even knew how much fun they could really be!"

"Perhaps I should ask for a graduation party like this at my school, too!" Karen said.

"Me, too!" Odeko exclaimed.

"I think every education facility will need parties and proms like this!" Meenah laughed, as she took another swig of Faygo. "Damn, son, I'm having a sugar rush right now! Whoo!"

Soon, Lacie came to me, Karen, Odeko, MC and John with some small bottles of Coca-Cola.

"Thanks, Lace" I said, as I got a bottle handed to me.

Once all six of us had our drinks, we toasted to the fact that MC, John and I had graduated.

"Cheers!" we all shouted, as we bumped our coke bottles into each other and took a brief swig from them afterwards.

Only a few seconds later, another song had started.

"Oooh, I know this one well!" we heard Grant exclaim from another corner of the cafeteria, "but oh dear, the sun is still out, how ironic! In this case, the song should be called _Dancing In The Sunlight_ instead!"

The graduates around Grant started laughing loudly, and I couldn't help but laugh either.

"Who wants candy?!" John exclaimed as he came towards us with a large bowl of all sorts of sweets, including M&M's.

I went towards the bowl once it stood on one of the tables, grabbed a small handful of M&M's out, and laughed at the sight of Meenah stuffing her cheeks with an even larger handful.

"And these babies just saved this lame-ass party!" she screamed with her cheeks full, "I feel greater than ever!"

"It's better to have a sugar rush than to be drunk down to the bone, right?" Bill said as he came towards us. "My eldest brother tends to get drunk too much while partying!"

"That's right" I laughed, "because alcohol kills even faster than tons of sugar!"

"I'm glad that you take smaller portions of candy now, Torin" Lacie chuckled, "because back at prom, you were just like how Meenah is doing right now!"

"Dude, I still remember that as if it was yesterday!"

Grant saw how hyped up Meenah was because of the high amounts of sugar that she'd been consuming for the past hour, and pulled her onto the dance floor, in an attempt to hopefully lower their energy level, as Grant seemed quite energetic as well.

"I guess that might just take quite a while…!" Kris chuckled. She was not proven wrong, because over the course of more songs, Meenah just kept on going loose as if it was a rave rather than a graduation party.

Meenah even became the centre of attention once the _Moscow_ song started and she seemed to be fluent in doing its iconic dance.

"Wow…!" Playtime laughed, "and to think she isn't even planning on doing a training like mine next year!" She jumped rope further as the song continued.

"I'd say that we should do a polonaise to this" I jokingly said as I held up a finger and started 'marching' to the rhythm of the music.

In response, Lacie grabbed my shoulders, and soon, the polonaise row also consisted of Karen, Odeko, John, MC, Playtime, Bill, Kris, Grant, Anthony, Colin and Halley. As we did the polonaise dance, we also chanted and sang along with the song, even though it was German and no-one seemed to know its true lyrics. ("Moscow, Moscow, I don't know the freakin' words!")

The party lasted until about 11 p.m., and I guess you could say that I was the most tired person among everyone else. But despite that, I did enjoy it to the fullest along with all of my friends and former classmates, and made a promise to myself to go to such parties related to anything educational more often!


End file.
